Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat exchange apparatus for use with hydrogen storing material.
Description of the Prior Art
Recently, there have been sought various applications with respect to the energy transformation function of the decomposition reaction of metal hydrides. As one of the approaches for the applications, a study has been directed to development of a regenerative heat exchanger with use of the endothermic decomposition reaction and the exothermic hydrogenation reaction of metal hydrides.
This regenerative heat exchanger is a type of a heat exchanger wherein an excess heat temporarily created during steady heat transfer under an equilibrium condition due to fluctuations with time, is stored by an endothermic reaction conducted by decomposing the metal hydride and discharging a hydrogen gas, and a deficiency in the quantity of heat required for the heat utilizing system is supplemented by an exothermic hydrogenation reaction conducted by returning the discharged hydrogen gas to the initial state, whereby the differentials of the patterns of the input and output sides are leveled off. Thus, this regenerative heat exchanger is expected to be quite useful for effective utilization of the solar heat or heat of the exhaust gases from plants, which is quite variable with time.
There has been proposed a heat exchanger of this type which has a construction wherein a hydrogen storing tank is connected via a hydrogen flow control valve to a regenerator tank packed with a metal hydride power, a heat transfer pipe from a heat source and a heat transfer pipe for the heat utilizing system are disposed to cross at a right angle to each other in the regenerator tank, and heat transfer pipes connected to a cool water system and a hot water system are accomodated in the hydrogen storing tank. In a heat exchanger of such a construction, a heat transfer pipe from the heat source and a heat transfer pipe for the heat utilizing system are accomodated in the regenerator tank, and accordingly the manufacture of such an apparatus is complicated as an industrial installation, although it may be easy for a small scale installation. Further, it is necessary to provide a pressure control system by connecting the cool water system and the hot water system to the hydrogen storing tank, and such inevitably requires large installation and leads to a high cost for such an installation.
Further, such a heat exchanger for use with hydrogen storing material has not yet reached an industrially applicable level, and various studies are presently being made taking also the fields of application into account. There have been some developments in theory, but there have not yet been satisfactory results obtained on a practical level.